Kwame O. Dapaah-Afriyie, MBchB, FACP, ACP Governor
Governor's Welcome
Summer is here! A season for relaxation, reflection, and reenergization.
The ACP Leadership Day activities in Washington D.C occurred about a month ago. All the US chapters were duly represented. We had the opportunity to interact with members and staff of our congressional delegations to highlight key issues on ACP’s 2025 agenda, which are:
- Adjusting Medicare physician payments to keep it at par with inflation
- Taking steps to address proposed cuts in Medicaid insurance program
- Taking steps to halt plans to reduce spending on public health and vital institutions such as CDC and NIH.
Our chapter’s delegation was led by Governor Emeritus Yul Ejnes. We were accompanied by three of our medical residents; Charmi Trivedi from Brown University Health, Carl Atallah and Amanuel Gemechu from Roger Williams Medical Center.
Sadly, the US House of Representatives (by margin of 1 vote) has passed the bill which contains the proposed Medicaid cuts, we (ACP) will continue our advocacy efforts to ensure the US senate makes the required changes.
On a positive note, because of our Leadership Day engagement activities, nine additional US House representatives have cosponsored the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act (H.R. 879). In addition, a companion bill was introduced at the US senate (S. 1640) on May 7, 2025. We will be closely following the outcome of these initiatives.
At the state level we have worked closely with Rhode Island Medical Society (RIMS) on several advocacy initiatives to help address our juddering precarious health care system, specifically the Primary Care crisis. The most recent activities were the Legislative Action Night, Rhode Island (RI) Legislative Advocacy Day at the State house and a Town Hall meeting with RI Attorney General Peter Neronha. These activities have been coordinated by Drs Mark Ryan and Jonathan Leviss, the co-chairs of our chapter's Health and Public Policy Committee. Our goal is to keep highlighting and bringing to the attention of our state leaders the enormity of the crisis at hand so that they can fossick for viable solutions amid our involuted budget reconciliation system.
We have a lot to do for ourselves, our community and our profession. This is our time!
The sage and scholar Hillel the Elder said: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?"
"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." This quote emphasizes the importance of focused practice, and a high level of proficiency and is one of the most quoted lines of martial artist, Bruce Lee.
Let’s collaborate and stay committed to our cause!
Best wishes of a great summer season to you and your families.
Chapter News
Committee Highlights
Resident and Fellow Committee: update by Mery Deeb, MD
Dr. Mery Deeb assumed leadership of this committee in July 2024. Her dynamic leadership team includes Drs. Olive Ochuba, Freya Shah, Warda Hameed, Qusai Masad, and Paola Pena.
We've had incredible success with our very own podcast, ACPRuleOutPod (available on Spotify), and are currently in the process of selecting a new team to take over to resume recording sessions starting in July 2025.
Recognizing the importance of financial literacy—even with our demanding schedules—the committee hosted several insightful sessions on the “ABCs of Financial Wellbeing.” These discussions provided valuable takeaways on personal investing, and we’re excited to offer another session this year as we welcome new members.
We also held an excellent and highly relevant session on “Contract Negotiations” to better equip our members with the knowledge and confidence needed when evaluating job offers and navigating the complexities of employment contracts. This year, we made a concerted effort to enhance representation of fellows and expand our networking opportunities, which significantly enriched the experience for everyone involved.
As we approach a time of transition, the current council members will soon be stepping into new roles. We’re proud to pass the torch to a talented group of incoming leaders who will continue to advance the mission of the ACP RI Chapter.
Our new council members are Drs. Carl Atallah, Charmi Trivedi, Amanuel Gemechu, and Manolya Osman. Some of our new members have just recently returned from the Annual ACP Leadership Day, and we are excited to have them share their experiences, insights, and newfound inspiration with our community. Their participation in Leadership Day not only deepened their understanding of health policy and advocacy but also reaffirmed their commitment to representing the voices of our members. We look forward to the fresh perspectives and energy they bring as they help guide the chapter into its next chapter of growth and impact.
Advocacy
Our chapter’s enhanced collaboration with RIMS will continue and we envisage having additional combined programs in the next several months. Below are pictures from our ACP Leadership Day delegation’s interaction with our US Senator Jack Reed, and Townhall meeting held at 375 Wampanoag Trail on May 21st with Peter Neronha, RI Attorney General.
ACP Grant
Carla Margarita Martín, M.D., FACP, FAAP, DipABOM, DipACLM, ACP Rhode Island Chapter, was one of the recipients of ACP’s grants to support regional programs in obesity care. Her Project’s title is: Bilingual Family-Centric Educational Videos and Materials on Obesity.
ACP announced that it has awarded a total of $260,000 in grants to support regional programs that address equity challenges in obesity care. Thirteen grantees were each awarded $20,000 to implement collaborative regional outreach projects. Through “Advancing Equitable Obesity Care through Regional Action Grants,” ACP aims to inspire local collaboration models across the country to train and empower medical professionals to partner with patients to combat misinformation and heighten clinical capacity to manage care for people with obesity.
National Meeting
The annual National meeting was held from April 3-5 in New Orleans. In addition, to the outlined educational program, we had the opportunity to officially congratulate our new fellows: Drs Pinar Arikan, Alisha Crowley, John Miskovsky and Cassie Maciel.
Dr. Fred Schiffman formally received his well-deserved ACP National award for Scholarly activities in Humanities and History of Medicine.
Additional new fellows in our chapter are; David J Broza, MD FACP Cyril O Burke III, MD FACP, and Brian D Mikolasko, MD FACP
We had 5 abstracts accepted as finalists for presentation in both clinical vignettes and research categories. We were duly represented at all levels; Medical students, Residents, and Early Career Physician (ECP).
Our resident presenters were Dhruvi Sanikommu (Landmark Medical Center), Ben Kolker and Emily Kruse (Brown University Health)
Our colleagues from Landmark Medical Center (Hossam Mustafa, MD, Kanishka Uttam Chandani, MD, Omar Alkasabrah, MD), reached the semi-finals stage of the National Doctor’s Dilemma competition. The coaching provided by Glenn Fort; their Program Director yielded appreciable results. The team from UMASS- St Vincent hospital are the 2025 national champions.I hope our chapter will continue to build of this great achievement and qualify for the final rounds in subsequent competitions.
Mentorship Zone
What are we learning? Who are we learning from? Who are we transferring insights to?
Iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
The one who waters will also be watered.
In this newsletter, we get to learn from Mariah Stump., who oversees our Chapter’s Wellness committee.
Brief background: Mariah H. Stump, MD, FACP, is an internal medicine specialist who received her medical degree from University of Vermont, College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont in 2012 and completed her internal medicine residency training in General Internal Medicine at Brown/Rhode Island Hospital. She is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Physician Subspecialties (Integrative Medicine) and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
Dr. Stump is a primary care physician at Brown Medicine. She is member of the Governor’s Council, the Well-Being Champion and a member of the planning and awards committees for the Rhode Island chapter of ACP. She is Vice-President of Rhode Island Medical Society as well as the current president of the Rhode Island Women’s Medical Association (RIMWA). She is a leader in incorporating narrative medicine into well-being efforts and medical education and has co-led workshops at the ACP annual national conference for three consecutive years.
In addition to practicing primary care, Dr. Stump is an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Clinician Educator, at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and the Director of the Scholarly Concentration Program at the medical school. She is the course leader for the only clinical elective in Lifestyle Medicine as well as the faculty advisor for culinary medicine, Integrative medicine and Medical Humanities pre-clinical electives.
Why did you choose to specialize in Internal Medicine? As a Humanities and Biology dual major in undergraduate with a minor in English in Philosophy, while I found the sciences fascinating and practical, I have always been drawn to the arts and humanities. In college I was drawn to clinical psychology and neuroscience and took a circuitous path to medical school. After college, working as a research assistant in a radiology imaging lab at Johns Hopkins Hospital (right in my back yard being from Maryland!), I realized being in a dark room researching wasn’t for me. I questioned even continuing in medicine as my mentors were very research-heavy. I ended up taking a risk, leaving the Hopkins research team, and taking a teaching position at an all-girls boarding school in the Baltimore suburbs as a high school biology teacher, dorm parent and “jill”-of-all trades.
Those three years teaching high school biology were formative and they cultivated my keen interest in women’s health and affirmed the importance of understanding the whole person as I grew to know my students both in the classroom and in their living environments. As their teacher, counselor and first-aid, I dealt with psychosocial and mental health concerns (disordered eating, identity crises and much adolescent self-doubt). Building these relationships with empathy confirmed my interest in becoming a physician. I found that general Internal Medicine allows for the breadth to truly care for the whole person (physical and mental health) as well as allow for a great deal of deep dives intellectually into all biological systems.
What are the 2-3 major factors that have helped you in this profession?Building relationships and connection both with my patients, students and colleagues sustain me. From my early years as a high school teacher through now teaching medical students and residents--teaching is an opportunity for leaving a legacy and impact—lighting the candle of someone’s knowledge and “spark” is an incredible privilege. Sitting with patients (some of which I have cared for now over a decade) is like catching up with old friends and meeting new patients brings a fresh set of opportunities to set goals and use a growth mindset in walking with patients on their health journeys.
Next to that, a diversity in my professional life has been very helpful. While my core activity is taking care of patients, I've had the privilege of teaching medical students and residents, serving on various committees for the medical school, residency and statewide professional organizations, and participating in/leading local and national professional organizational activities. The activities outside of patient care have helped continually remind me of seeing the ‘forest from the trees’--to remember our greater impact, to connect and to continuously rekindle the meaning in medicine.
Having a niche is important. Full time primary care is challenging. I am deeply grateful that I took a few risks in expanding my perspective and knowledge by gaining additional certifications in Integrative Medicine, Lifestyle Medicine and acupuncture. Not only has it deepened my understanding of health and the prevention of chronic disease it has also opened professional opportunities that may not have been there otherwise. Having a niche potentially allows for some offset of clinical hours as well as deepens and informs patient care and practice through a more diverse perspective.
What has kept you in this profession amid the challenges?I'm a strong believer that physicians should have and use their agency in whatever environment they work in. Whether it's serving in our professional societies, or taking part in advocacy activities, we can and should work to improve the healthcare system. Many of these engagements can lead to larger opportunities through building a wider professional community of colleagues which improves career satisfaction and decreases burnout risk.
I’ve never taken the easy path. Strength and resilience is built from adversity and rising from challenges. Primary care both in our state and in the nation is in a tough place. It’s easy to be pessimistic and to stay stuck in a “nothing will ever change” mindset with the business of everyday clinical work. We advocacy on the shelf for others to do. I truly believe we are potentially at a turning point in our profession and the healthcare system.
If we unite and aren’t afraid to share our voices we can be part of the change. Our actions now will not only help protect and nurture our own careers but that of future physicians to come. When I think about this, it really helps me realize that this work is for the good of patients, the community and the planet.
Any thoughts you want to share...: From plane crashes, wildfires, gun violence and the stress of our day-to-day work, we are ever reminded that life if short. To quote the poet Mary Oliver in her poem ‘A summer’s Day’: “What do you plan on doing with your one wild and precious life?''
I recently was asked to lead Grand Rounds at hospital in New York on Well-being.
I chose to focus the talk on Embracing Vulnerability in Medicine. That’s right. Being vulnerable in medicine is not only ok, it’s encouraged. My 5 take away points are:
-Share your Story: It’s ok to not always feel ok—have the courage and vulnerability to open up about your struggles and path in medicine: this builds connection and the knowledge that you are not alone. Connection builds Well-Being.
-Advocate: Physicians deserve a seat at the table. We have to keep working collaboratively to make that happen. Our profession and healthcare system depends on it.
-Well-being is more than just self-care, it is system change. But in order to have the energy to engage in system-change, we cannot neglect ourselves and our own needs.
-Do work that matters—find your niche, your unique skills and what you are passionate about, and the “work” is more enjoyable. It’s ok to be different, the right team will appreciate you.
-Be a light. We live in a challenging world, in challenging times. Still: Be a light. “For there is always light if we are brave enough to see it. There is always light if we are brave enough to be it” –Amanda Gorman.
From National ACP
ACP Signs onto joint statement on Senate Reconciliation Package
ACP has signed onto a joint statement with the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Osteopathic Association and the American Psychiatric Association to urge lawmakers to protect affordable health insurance in the areas of Medicaid, Student Debt Relief, and Medicare Physician Payment.
Actions on BOG Resolutions, April 5, 2025, Board of Regents Organizational Meeting:
Adopted and Referred for Implementation:
1 -S25. Calling for Research and Advocacy Related to, and Opposing Stand Your Ground Laws
Adopted with Amendments for Implementation:
10 -S23. Advocating Against Restrictive Clauses in Physician Employment Contracts
8-S24. Approaching Physician Suicide as a Problem Requiring Healthcare System Change
Adopted as a Reaffirmation:
2-S24. Training the Physician Workforce on Battling Misinformation.
Not Adopted:
19-S24. Applying Chapter Dues for Members, FACPs and MACPs Rejoining ACP.
21-S24. Creating Policy to Guide the Selection of Future ACP Annual Scientific and BOG Meetings
Tabled until July 2025 BOR Meeting
7-S25. Waiving ACP IM Registration Fees for All Doctor’s Dilemma Participants